Back Where They Belong
by Emily McCartney
Summary: Spike lives and the Bebop team is back together. But will the dynamics change or will everything go back to status quo?
1. Bang

That's it...

Vicious is dead and he's finally free. He descended the staircase of the Syndicate, nine guards stare with Tommy guns loaded and lowered. Never again would his past interfere with his present; harming and threatening those he truly cared about. Four faces flashed in his mind and surprisingly not one of them was Julia.. he came closer to the ground floor and a smile, a real hope filled smile, graced his scarred face. He'd die with some regrets, but then again who wouldn't? A man of many secrets, but he only regrets two things; not going after Ed when she disappeared and not kissing Faye before leaving her for good.

His pace slowed, a smile still on his face, he pulled his finger gun and pointed it to the middle of the confused group of guards, "Bang." The world of Spike Spiegel went black.


	2. Back on the Bebop

"Lunkhead, Lunkhead!" A sweet but shrilly voice taunted. She wasn't saying out of malice but just because she heard it a number of times. Spike growled, he starts noticing a bright light shining through the slits of his eyes.

"You found him." That voice stirred up a tumult of emotions. "Oh look at that face, that Idiot could've been killed!"

A gruffer, lower voice answer the desperate insult, "He's not out of the woods yet, but he's got a good chance."

Heaven wouldn't taunted him like this would it. No, this has to be Hell. What other place would dangle those he cares about just out of his-

AHH! A shearing pain shot through his left arm. What the hell?!

"He could feel it, that's good," the Jet demon announced.

_I'm dead, right? I was set free, I won! I felt the world fall from my shoulders_.

"Come on, Faye," Jet said, "We've got a bounty to catch, and there's nothing we can do for him right now." Though Spike couldn't see what was going on, but he could feel the tension, he could feel Faye's hesitation.

"You take good care of the Lunkhead, Ed." Faye brushed her fingers across his sweaty forehead moving some of the hair out of his eyes.

Ed giggled, "Ha ha, Lunkhead, Lunkhead!"

Except for Ed's snoring and EIN's steady breathing Spike couldn't hear a sound. He's alive, he couldn't believe it. He had to see the Bebop with his own eyes, had to see EIN's concerned eyes or Edward's peaceful slumber. Spike struggled to the surface finally winning out against the black oblivion. The plain dark steel interior of the Bebop seemed to welcome him home. The fan about him slowly turned, he moaned lowly but enough to stir EIN.

The barking abruptly awoke Ed from her easy slumber. "What is it, EIN?" Spike moved again. "Spike?"

"Edward," Spike whispered. Her ever-present smile appeared in front of his face.

"Spike!"

"I missed you, little lady." Spike rasped as he wrapped his sluggish arms around the funny pre-teen.

"You're really hurt, Spike, Spike. Edward was really worried." She snuggled into his chest as if laying with her big brother.

"We were pretty worried when you disappeared too." Ed smiled into his firm chest but did not answer. Her sleepy breathing filled the air, EIN laid at Spike's feet and Spike drifted back to sleep, finally feeling alive... finally feeling at home?


	3. Cigarettes and Something Else

**Okay so I know that these are a lot shorter then some of my others but I am trying to keep the important interactions crisp and together. Please review and let me know how I am doing.**

"Now is that an adorable picture," a mocking feminine voice pointed out. Suddenly a bright flash started both Ed and EIN.

"What? Huh?" Ed shot up. Rubbing her tired eyes, she smiled at Faye. "Did you take a picture of Edward?"

Faye smiled sweetly. "Yeah, I did."

"Faye, Faye," Edward exclaimed.

"Ed, why were you laying on Spike?" Faye sat across from catatonic bounty hunter.

"He wanted me to."

"What?"

"He woke up and so I crawled into his arms, and we just fell asleep." Spike, who had began to stir again, smirked at how creepy she made the situation sound.

"Oh." Oddly Faye didn't question it. The slap of bare feet on steel as Ed walked out of the room. Faye moved to the table sitting as close to Spike as possible. He didn't move, gave no indication he knew she was there. He wanted to see what she'd do. She didn't even try to disguise her hurt or desperation.

"Oh Spike," she whispered. She brushed hair from his forehead again, but her hand moved to his face and rested there. She now kneels beside him, her hands moved light over his clothes. She stopped just below the v of his yellow shirts, she slightly tugged on his loose tie. "Oh Spike, why'd you leave me?"

She buried her face in his jacket, Spike couldn't stay quiet any longer. "You left me first."

"At least I had the curtsey of coming back in one piece." She didn't seem to register that the voice wasn't in her head. "You smell like cigarettes and death."

"Yeah, well you smell like cigarettes and scotch." Spike chuckled. This time she felt the vibrations in his chest. She shot up looking his eyes.

"Spike?"

"Hey."

"Spike!" Her ferocious grip dragged him into an upright position and she held on tight. Suddenly her demeanor changed. Throwing him back down, "You, Blockhead! you went to get yourself killed. you left Jet and me to play chicken with you past! You are more trouble them you're worth. We thought we'd never see you again."

"I came back, didn't I?"

"Beaten, bruised and almost dead!"

"'Almost' being the key word." Spike pointed out nonchalantly.

"Grr... have you no feelings?" Without warning she stormed off. Spike didn't lift a finger to stop her, he knew what he had to do but she needed to cool off first.

"Your ungrateful patient is awake," Faye bellowed.


	4. Funny Little Family

Spike sat up scratching his head. He noticed that Faye was right, he did smell like cigarettes and death. He was shedding the top layer of clothing with Jet Black entered the room.

"You have a way with women, Spike," Jet mocked.

"Hey," Spike sighed, "don't blame that one on me. One minute we're bantering next minute she's hysterical."

Jet shook his head as he took the seat across from Spike. He threw a plate of beans and rice in front of the patient, and set a beer next to it. No words were needed, Spike knew an order when he saw it. Silently he began to eat and Jet began to relax.

"So how'd I get here, Jet?"

Closing his eyes, Jet told the tale. "I got a encoded message from one of your Syndicate sympathizers."

"What? I thought they were all dead."

"Had Vicious known, they would've been dead. Without a leader they didn't hesitate to try to revive you. They held you in hiding from Vicious followers for about a week. You were finally able to sustain life on your own and they couldn't risk getting caught with you anymore."

Spike released a sigh of concern, but he encouraged Jet to continue. "I pick you up about two nights ago and you've been in and out ever since."

Spike rubbed his neck, digesting his rescue story, and finishing the meal Jet had prepared. "So how did Ed and EIN find their way back to the ship?"

Jet smiled at that one. "She got hungry." Plain, simple, and totally Ed. "She was holding up in an abandoned house, and ended up eating herself out of house and home," Jet began to laugh, and Spike joined him. "Ed contacted us about two days after you left letting us know where she is. She expected us to get her."

Spike gave his pal a funny smile, "You had no problem going to get her, you big softie."

"Yeah, I missed her. Faye is the one that encouraged her to stay. I'm still ticked off with 'Father Person' for being so absentminded!" his justified anger didn't surprise Spike at all. Jet always had a soft spot for the brilliant computer hacker. "If I had a daughter I would never leave her to fend for herself."

Spike smiled at his companion, "I understand your indignation, but how'd you convince her she needed to stay?"

It was Jet's turn to flash his teeth. "We gave her what she wanted from the start... to be a member of Bebop." Spike didn't understand. "We promised to use her talents more often, we're also going to teach her to fight once she's older. I'm thinking of even setting some money aside to buy her a fighter some day."

Spike understood in that moment that the joke of their funny little family, wasn't a joke any more. Jet saw the realization in his companion's eyes. He just nodded and stood to leave the recovering patient.

Throwing one last order his shoulder, Jet said, "Take a shower and get changed, Spike... Oh and welcome home."


	5. I Need You

_Nothing like a hot shower to bring the life back into a man_. Spike once again felt the shed of his horrid past peel from his shoulders. He relished the feeling of letting it go. He closed his eyes to quietly mourn his friends and mentors, but the mourning process passed quickly. A face appeared in his mind's eye; her skin milky white, stormy gray eyes and violet hair.

_Valentine_.

Spike knew he still had to clear the air with her, before he could even dream of moving forward with her. He pulled on a fresh pair of pants, loving the crisp clean feel. He tugged an over-shirt on as well and moved out of the bathroom drying his hair with a hand towel. He hadn't seen where he's going and nearly stepped on EIN. The mechanically altered Welsh Corgi barked his displeasure.

"You tell him, EIN," a sultry voice commended. Spike turned to face his only current enemy. Her attitude oozed towards him. He gave her a quick once over, and noticed a navy blue jacket hugging her torso. He gave her a questioning eyebrow.

"Nice jacket," he offered nonchalantly, "looks familiar."

Her cheeks flushed, her arms grabbed at the lapels. she tried to harness her embarrassment and turn it into anger but it wasn't working. "You're supposed to be dead," She snapped.

He smiled at her discomfort. "It looks good. It also tells me you were planning on missing me."

"In your dreams, you ass! I was cold and no one would need your clothes again." She began to take it off. "Here take it back!"

Spike quickly closed the distance between them. "No, if you're cold I want you to keep it."

His proximity affected her resolve to hate him. He smelled clean and looked fresh. She involuntarily took a step back, but he didn't allow the space to linger. Her back hit the cool steel wall. _No escape_. Not that she wanted to. "What do you want, Spike?" She tried to be as snippy as possible, but all of her senses were on overload. He was so close, his eyes wandered all over her, and his hand were caressing the lapels of his jacket.

"To say I'm sorry," he sighed. She felt her knees go weak at the declaration.

"What?" Her eyes were searching his for answers, praying that this wasn't a joke or just another 'Spike Spiegel Get Out of Jail Free' card.

"You were right back there, I did leave you." he whispered as he dropped his head. "I told you I needed to go to see if I was ever really alive. I was alive once... Julia made me feel alive, but once she faded I didn't think I'd ever feel that way again. But there is something about your bad attitude and feisty manner that has awaken that feeling again. I told you once that 'I need you' and you came through for me..."

He allowed a pause to fill the hall. Faye tried to fill it, "Spike."

"No, let me finish. When I was walking down those death stairs after winning my last fight it was your face that I needed to see, and you didn't let me down."

"I didn't?"

"Your face was the last thing on my mind. You were my last regret."

Her eyes grew big with both hope and horror. She was a regret? She wanted to smile knowing that she was on his mind not Julia, but as a regret... that can't be good. She looked into Spike's eyes searching for hope, his brown (real) eye bared into her as if praying she would understand, but as she looked into his red (fake) eye she too saw his past and knew that he was in pain.

"Regret?" She finally whispered.

Spike finally smiled. His right hand moved to her waist and snaked around it, and his left head moved to her neck, all while pulling her closer to him. She shivered under his touch, and refused to break this perfect moment. Faye moved her own hands in a mirrored way. She felt the soft black hair run between her fingers and bunched the cotton shirt in her fist, keeping him as close as possible. Spike laid his forehead against hers, not ready to follow through without letting her know exactly what he meant.

"I regretted not kissing you when I had my last chance," he whispered. His breath mingled with hers, teasing her with an item that she really wanted. "But now... I am going to regret not telling you I love you while I have a chance."

"What?"

He didn't answer just closed the tense distance between them in that long awaited kiss. Faye melted into him and the promise that his previous words felt. She didn't need an explanation anymore, everything he wanted to say was in that perfect moment.

"I needed-" he started explaining, but she kissed him again to shut him up.

She broke away smiling, "I love you, Spike. And as long as you need me, I will be here for you."

He closed his eyes and whispered a quiet thank you. They stood close just holding each other.

"Spike and Faye Faye, are smooch smooching," Ed announced while giggling, startling everyone out of their worlds. Smiling the two broke apart and hugged the sweet girl.

"We love you too, Ed," they said together, kissing both her cheeks.

~Finish~

**I hope that you enjoyed this story. I love Cowboy Bebop and know that I shouldn't be tampering with the perfect ending of the amazing show, but as a writer I wanted a happy ending. I am a romantic and wanted these two act upon the tension between all throughout their relationship. So I fulfilled my romantic ideals with this and I want you to tell me what you think.**


End file.
